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Right to Exclusion, Government Spaces, and Speech: by Torsha Sarkar — published Jul 02, 2021 — last modified Jul 02, 2021 12:05 PM — filed under: Freedom of Speech and Expression, Intermediary Liability, Information Technology
The conclusion of the litigation surrounding Trump blocking its critiques on Twitter brings to forefront two less-discussed aspects of intermediary liability: a) if social media platforms could be compelled to ‘carry’ speech under any established legal principles, thereby limiting their right to exclude users or speech, and b) whether users have a constitutional right to access social media spaces of elected officials. This essay analyzes these issues under the American law, as well as draws parallel for India, in light of the ongoing litigation around the suspension of advocate Sanjay Hegde’s Twitter account.
Located in Internet Governance / Blog
New intermediary guidelines: The good and the bad: by Torsha Sarkar — published Feb 26, 2021 — last modified Mar 15, 2021 01:52 PM — filed under: IT Act, Intermediary Liability, Internet Governance, Censorship, Artificial Intelligence
In pursuance of the government releasing the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, this blogpost offers a quick rundown of some of the changes brought about the Rules, and how they line up with existing principles of best practices in content moderation, among others.
Located in Internet Governance / Blog
Remove misinformation, but be transparent please!: by Torsha Sarkar — published Jun 29, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen an extensive proliferation of misinformation and misleading information on the internet - which in turn has highlighted a heightened need for online intermediaries to promptly and effectively deploy its content removal mechanisms. This blogpost examines how this necessity may affect the best practices of transparency reporting and obligations of accountability that these online intermediaries owe to their users, and formulates recommendations to allow preservation of information regarding Covid-19 related content removal, for future research.
Located in Internet Governance / Blog
Why should we care about takedown timeframes?: by Torsha Sarkar — published Apr 10, 2020 — last modified Apr 10, 2020 04:58 AM — filed under: Content takedown, Intermediary Liability, Chilling Effect
The issue of content takedown timeframe - the time period an intermediary is allotted to respond to a legal takedown order - has received considerably less attention in conversations about intermediary liability. This article examines the importance of framing an appropriate timeframe towards ensuring that speech online is not over-censored, and frames recommendations towards the same.
Located in Internet Governance / Blog

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The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfiguration of social processes and structures through the internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa.

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